Grouse Ridge Campground — Hotel in Truckee

I grew up going here when only locals knew about this place. It's very dear to me for many many reasons. If you'll be traveling here, please respect it, tread lightly and treat it to last generations. I recommend only taking something with 4WD/AWD up here so as to help maintain the washboard roads. At times, only a very capable vehicle will be able to access. The grouse ridge campground is not a good place for a low clearance, 2WD car and is only accessible in the summer...

We used the campground to access the trailhead. The trail was wonderful, Penner Lake, Upper Rock Lake and Sawmill Lake were wonderful to swim in. The areas where the cows graze are heavily impacted, the eastern half of the trail up to Sawmill Lake was trampled and chewed - grazed! And the lake we saw - Shotgun Lake - had bathing cows in it, but we passed. Then the smoke came, and we had to go home, to make sure we didn't get burnt in a fire, nor our homes back in...

Want to hike among dozens of alpine lakes without crowds? This is your destination. Hills were a bit much for our biking skills and fishing the lakes in October (Downey & Milk) yielded not a single bite. But the scenery and the many trails out of this site are like nothing I’ve ever seen - stunning! We did manage to get our Winnebago camper van up that dirt road but it took nearly an hour to go the 5+ miles. Those pot holes are NO JOKE. This place is a...